“Those who had carried me off!” repeated Glory Goldie in astonishment.
“I was as much astonished at that as you are,” Linnart declared, “and I asked him what he meant. Well, he meant those who had lain in wait for the Empress while she was at home—all the enemies of whom Glory Goldie had been so afraid that she had not dared to put on her gold crown or so much as mention Portugallia, and who had finally overpowered her and carried her into captivity.”
“So that was it!”
“Yes, just that. You understand of course that your father did not weep because he had been deserted and left alone, but because he thought you were in peril.” It had been a little hard for Linnart to come out with the last few words; they wanted to stick in his throat. Perhaps he was thinking of old Björn Hindrickson and himself, for there was that in his own life which had taught him the true worth of a love that never fails you.
But Glory Goldie did not yet understand. She had thought of her father only with aversion and dread since her return and muttered something about his being a madman.
Linnart heard what she said, and it hurt him. “I’m not so sure that Jan was mad!” he retorted. “I told him that I hadn’t seen any gaolers around Glory Goldie. ‘My good Linnart,’ he then said, ‘didn’t you notice how closely they guarded her when she drove by? They were Pride and Hardness, Lust and Vice, all the enemies she has to battle against back there in her Empire.’ ”
Glory Goldie stopped a moment and turned toward Linnart. “Well?” was all she said.
“I replied that these enemies I, too, had seen,” returned Linnart Hindrickson curtly.
The girl gave a short laugh.
“But instantly I regretted having said that,” pursued the man. “For then Jan cried out in despair: ‘Oh, pray to God, my dear Linnart, that I may be able to save the little girl from all evil! It doesn’t matter what becomes of me, just so she is helped.’ ”
Glory Goldie did not speak, but walked on hurriedly. Something had begun to pull and tear at her heart strings—something she was trying to force back. She knew that if that which lay hidden within should burst its bonds and come to the surface, she would break down completely.
“And those were Jan’s last words,” said Linnart. “It wasn’t long after that before he proved that he meant what he said. Don’t think for a moment that Jan jumped into the lake to get away from his own sorrow; it was only to rescue Glory Goldie from her enemies that he plunged in after the boat.”
Glory Goldie tramped on, faster and faster. Her father’s great love from first to last now stood revealed to her. But she could not bear the thought of it and wanted to put it behind her.
“We keep pretty well posted in this parish as to one another’s doings,” Linnart continued. “There was much ill feeling against you at first, after the Emperor was drowned. I for my part considered you unworthy to receive his farewell message. But we all feel differently now; we like your staying down at the pier to watch for him.”
Then Glory Goldie stopped short. Her cheeks burned and her eyes flashed with indignation. “I stay down there only because I’m afraid of him,” she said.
“You have never wanted to appear better than you are. We know that. But we understand perhaps better than you yourself do what lies back of this waiting. We have also had parents and we haven’t always treated them right, either.”
Glory Goldie was so furious that she wanted to say something dreadful to make Linnart hush, but somehow she couldn’t. All she could do was to run away from him.
Linnart Hindrickson made no attempt to follow her further. He had said what he wanted to say and he was not displeased with that morning’s work.
The Passing of Katrina
Katrina lay on the bed in the little hut at Ruffluck Croft, the pallor of death on her face, her eyes closed. It looked as if the end had already come. But the instant Glory Goldie reached her bedside and stood patting her hand, she opened her eyes and began to speak.
“Jan wants me with him,” she said, with great effort. “He doesn’t hold it against me that I deserted him.”
Glory Goldie started. Now she knew why her mother was dying; she who had been faithful a lifetime was grieving herself to death for having failed Jan at the last.
“Why should you have to fret your heart out over that, when I was the one who forced you to leave him?” said Glory Goldie.
“Just the same the memory of it has been so painful,” replied Katrina. “But now all is well again between Jan and me.” Then she closed her eyes and lay very still, and into her thin, wan face came a faint light of happiness. Soon she began to speak again, for there were things which had to be said; she could not find peace until they were said.
“Don’t be so angry with Jan for running after you! He meant only well by you. Things have never been right with you since you and he first parted, and he knew it, too, nor with him either. You both went wrong, each in your own way.”
Glory Goldie had felt that her mother would say something of this sort, and had steeled herself beforehand. But her mother’s words moved her more than she realized, and she tried to say something comforting. “I shall think of father as he was in the old days. You remember what good friends we always were at that time.”
Katrina seemed to be satisfied with the response, for she settled back
